Golfers may experience frustrating results when a ball flies off to one side in a hook or a slice or when the ball does not go far enough. Golf club designers have tried some different designs that are meant to be more forgiving to off-center hits or that are meant to increase the ball's initial speed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,559 to Yabu seeks a club design that allows flexure of a face plate at impact to improve a restitution coefficient of the club face to increase the traveling distance of the struck ball. Unfortunately, attempts to improve one detail on a golf club can compromise others. For example, a golf club that is designed to have a high restitution coefficient may be found to crack and fatigue at areas on the face above where the face meets the sole. Golfers do not want to purchase golf clubs that break easily through normal use.